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Cost by industry
Industry sector from the principal business activity code on Form 5500 line 2d (NAICS sectors). Medians are over plans reporting a positive value, in the comparison population for plan year 2024; sectors with fewer than 50 plans are not listed. Costs per participant fall with plan size, so the second table restricts to the $10 to 50M bucket, the most common size.
All sizes
| Sector | Plans | Median plan assets | Recordkeeping fees / participant (median) | Admin excl. investment mgmt / participant (median) | Admin expenses / assets (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 10,936 | $20,862,884 | $70.00 (n 6,398) | $102.48 (n 10,388) | 0.240% |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 9,316 | $22,689,802 | $71.40 (n 5,293) | $103.80 (n 8,773) | 0.220% |
| Health care and social assistance | 6,583 | $13,123,280 | $66.30 (n 3,251) | $89.67 (n 6,225) | 0.321% |
| Finance and insurance | 4,115 | $33,427,700 | $59.12 (n 2,276) | $99.94 (n 3,859) | 0.160% |
| Retail trade | 3,619 | $13,936,021 | $73.18 (n 2,021) | $105.85 (n 3,464) | 0.366% |
| Wholesale trade | 3,331 | $20,502,860 | $74.68 (n 1,887) | $113.56 (n 3,165) | 0.263% |
| Construction | 3,323 | $16,208,547 | $84.58 (n 1,659) | $131.33 (n 3,168) | 0.340% |
| Other services | 1,906 | $12,693,803 | $78.52 (n 926) | $100.55 (n 1,817) | 0.301% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 1,841 | $12,419,563 | $68.47 (n 963) | $101.26 (n 1,623) | 0.350% |
| Information | 1,784 | $21,557,490 | $61.43 (n 1,104) | $87.48 (n 1,654) | 0.190% |
| Administrative and support and waste management services | 1,605 | $12,220,837 | $69.81 (n 876) | $108.69 (n 1,542) | 0.435% |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 1,548 | $14,894,002 | $85.65 (n 886) | $112.55 (n 1,475) | 0.338% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,233 | $7,700,083 | $62.85 (n 676) | $92.46 (n 1,174) | 0.499% |
| Arts, entertainment, and recreation | 834 | $14,388,798 | $56.90 (n 470) | $82.27 (n 787) | 0.292% |
| Educational services | 833 | $11,799,663 | $61.44 (n 414) | $85.80 (n 801) | 0.319% |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 619 | $38,804,868 | $62.30 (n 357) | $91.04 (n 585) | 0.176% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting | 618 | $14,275,771 | $82.18 (n 312) | $118.99 (n 592) | 0.325% |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction | 487 | $26,616,858 | $67.37 (n 305) | $97.87 (n 464) | 0.207% |
| Utilities | 387 | $51,408,245 | $51.56 (n 205) | $85.10 (n 352) | 0.115% |
| Public administration | 61 | $24,444,998 | n < 50 (n 35) | $90.08 (n 60) | 0.309% |
Plans with $10 to 50M in assets
| Sector | Plans | Recordkeeping fees / participant (median) | Admin excl. investment mgmt / participant (median) | Admin expenses / assets (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 5,151 | $81.46 (n 3,036) | $117.19 (n 4,927) | 0.273% |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 4,647 | $87.67 (n 2,611) | $119.91 (n 4,404) | 0.262% |
| Health care and social assistance | 2,544 | $78.27 (n 1,255) | $106.81 (n 2,436) | 0.315% |
| Finance and insurance | 2,118 | $70.48 (n 1,115) | $124.03 (n 2,013) | 0.236% |
| Wholesale trade | 1,884 | $84.84 (n 1,067) | $127.45 (n 1,804) | 0.289% |
| Retail trade | 1,754 | $84.06 (n 977) | $121.94 (n 1,698) | 0.363% |
| Construction | 1,663 | $108.24 (n 834) | $150.62 (n 1,603) | 0.340% |
| Information | 878 | $82.03 (n 522) | $105.30 (n 824) | 0.245% |
| Other services | 833 | $99.73 (n 413) | $113.57 (n 800) | 0.276% |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 727 | $95.45 (n 420) | $127.39 (n 697) | 0.331% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 679 | $85.44 (n 396) | $111.15 (n 655) | 0.335% |
| Administrative and support and waste management services | 616 | $77.19 (n 338) | $117.97 (n 593) | 0.386% |
| Accommodation and food services | 367 | $80.80 (n 206) | $110.56 (n 353) | 0.409% |
| Arts, entertainment, and recreation | 357 | $71.85 (n 208) | $92.31 (n 345) | 0.292% |
| Educational services | 349 | $65.85 (n 164) | $90.20 (n 338) | 0.285% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting | 306 | $89.72 (n 164) | $134.00 (n 296) | 0.284% |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 245 | $85.41 (n 139) | $112.58 (n 237) | 0.277% |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction | 208 | $90.28 (n 131) | $130.54 (n 201) | 0.281% |
| Utilities | 127 | $68.53 (n 63) | $122.68 (n 119) | 0.239% |
Form 5500 line 2d (business code), Schedule H lines 2i(3), 2i(5), 2i(12), 1f; line 6g(2). Plan year 2024.